Dim Turquoise
by HeyStopThat
Summary: Underfell. Ever wonder what it'd be like to fall off a roof onto a murderous-looking skeleton? Run through a snowy field filled with bear traps? Convince a horde of demon-kittens that you're actually a bomb? Create an adorable outfit for a sentient, rage-filled sewing dummy? Be insulted by a Mean-cream wrapper No? That's too d*mn bad. Because you're about to find out anyway.
1. Down the Snowy Path

Snow. Just your luck, it had to be snow. A mixture of intense sadness and immense relief had nearly overwhelmed you as you stepped through the door that lead out of the ruins, but now, seeing the snow cast an even darker cloud over your already expanding sense of dread. Still, you knew that you had to keep moving. In this strange world, you had been told so many times already, and it sounded clearly to you, buzzing loudly in the front of your head: Kill or be killed. However, you were resolute: you had no intention or desire to do either. However, in your short time here, you knew all too well that fate would take every chance it could to test your resolve.

Yeah, well... fate could fuck right off.

Of course, it's easy to talk big in your head, but facing what the path in front of you at the moment made you feel tired, small, and wilted.

Where was "here" anyway? Where were you headed? Where did this path lead? A light snow was falling, which was strange, considering that you were under a mountain... no, wait... were you.. were you out? Had the door lead you back to the outer world? You felt your breath hitch for a quick second, and without another thought, you started walking. If this was the path out, you wanted to move quickly. You needed to find someone, tell them about your strange adventure, find shelter, get out of this stupid cold... a shiver engulfed you, and you pulled your hood closer to your face. It felt as if the stupid fur accent on the hood did nothing but add an unnecessary embellishment to the jacket as a fashion statement instead of doing any real job at keeping you insulated. You made a passing mental note to write a letter of complaint to the company.

Your footfalls slowly came to a halt, eyes suddenly scanning up and around into the dark, barren trees that towered over you. Something felt off... wrong... unsettling. You felt your skin crawl as another shiver worked its way up your spine. What was it? Why were you feeling so uneasy? Sure, it was a bit of a spooky atmosphere, but... then it hit you: it was deathly silent. No birdsong graced the air, no critters scampered about in the foliage, no sound of distance wind or people... the only thing that you could hear was your own breathing, and your heartbeat sounding much too loudly in your ears.

You felt panicked; this was the kind of environment that you've heard would proceed an earthquake or a natural disaster. Maybe... you weren't out yet? The thought hit you hard, but you didn't want to dwell on it for too long. You had to keep going. You had to get out of here. You had to do _something_. So, you kept walking, with your own footsteps seemingly too loud in your ears.

A couple of branches had fallen over the snowy road, but a quick jump and you cleared them easily. You felt the tension easing up a bit with every little leap you made. No use being sad or scared, you mused as you skipped over another small branch, a smile twitching at the corners of your mouth. Despite the quiet all around you, it didn't look like there was anything around here that could harm you. Besides, if there was a threat, you would clearly be able to hear it.

 **CRACK.**

Oh, _fuck_ no.

You whirled around at an insane speed, eyes stopping on a cracked branch that you had jumped over not twenty seconds before. Other than that, there was nothing else there to symbolize a threat. Your heart was galloping now as your eyes darted wildly around your surroundings. There was nothing up in the trees, and there were no other footsteps that you could see other than your own. The condensation from your rapid breaths formed a fog before your too-wide eyes as you tried to rationalize it. _Maybe the branch had already been weakened? I mean, it_ looked _heavy enough..._ Yeah, that was it. And that was enough thinking over this. You quickly spun on your heel and continued to walk, your breathing, heartbeat, and footsteps all much quicker than before. Just keep walking, just keep walking, just keep walking...

 **Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.**

NOPE. NOPE. NOPE.

You pace quickened even further, brain screaming incoherently as the slow footfalls you definitely heard behind you registered, and you made no move to look back. Oh, christ almighty, don't look back, don't look back...

It was then that the sight of a small bridge made you falter and stop. The sides seemed to be altered in a way that looked like it had been hastily modified for... some reason... but you couldn't quite figure out what the builder was going for here. Was this bridge even safe to cross? It looks kind of worn and rickety...

 **CRUNCH. CRUNCH CRUNCH. CRUNCH. CRUNCH.**

The footfalls directly behind you stopped at the same time your heart did.

 **"HUMAN . DON'T YOU KNOW HOW TO GREET A NEW PAL ?** " a deep, rasping voice sounded suddenly from behind.

You took a long, deep breath that didn't seem to successfully bring back any air to your lungs before you replied:

"NOPE! NOPE! NOPE! NOPE! NOPE!" Not even waiting for your "new pal" to answer, you sprinted wildly across the bridge, all danger of its construction now lost to you, and before you can even think any more about it, you're across, and still sprinting like a maniac further and further down the winding path spread before you.


	2. Up the Snowy Tree

You were basically blind to anything and everything around you, but it was obvious that the loudest thing in the forest right now was you. Gasping breaths and frantic, pounding feet crunching snow and cracking small branches underfoot were a perfect way to ensure than anything within a hundred miles would be alerted of your presence. __Brilliant__ plan. You would almost be angry with yourself if you didn't feel so out of breath. Taking that as your cue, you stumbled through the clearing and leaned unsteadily against one of the tall, bare trees to wheeze a bit, hoping to procure some oxygen back into your aching lungs.

"HEY!" came a sharp yell from the distance behind you, causing you to jerk sideways and look over your shoulder. A short, stocky form was steadily approaching, hunched over with its arm pumping, fists clenched tightly. And, oh, the face... it was a skull. A scowling skull with teeth that looked like they belonged in a shark's maw. "Ya' really __don't__ know how ta' greet a new pal, do ya'?" It snarled in a low, gravelly voice as it continued to stalk towards you. Your brain seemed to snap back into place as you realized just how close this skeleton creature was getting.

"NOPE! NOOOOOPE!" you yelped yet again, feet resuming their trajectory down the path. All your brain could do was scream, and, unfortunately, your legs and lungs were doing the same.

Shit... a fork in the road. You needed to make a split-second decision. Left. Go left. A small, worn, wooden box caught your eye as you turned, but you really didn't feel you had time to investigate. You just had to escape. Escape and get to-

SHIT. You found yourself at the bank of a river, surrounded by trees on the both sides. You were trapped.

"Swear ta' god, kid...!" a distant voice behind you sounded angrily. __Nope.__ Without another thought, you dashed to the nearest tree and scrambled up, hoping that the branches would give you sufficient cover enough to hide. If only you could quiet your panicked breathing if only for a moment.

You hear slow, deliberate footsteps and saw the dark figure of the skeleton-man saunter slowly into view. He stopped casually and seemed to look around lazily before heaving an exaggerated sigh.

"Ya' know..." he drawled out as coolly as the snow around the both of you. "I'm startin' ta' think that maybe you don't __like__ jokes..." He spoke in an all-too-causal tone as he reached inside of his dark hoodie to bring out a large rolled cigarette, clamping it between those sharp fangs. It was only now that you started to take in his appearance from your hidden perch. His black hoodie was adorned with thick, spiked fur on the hood and collar. The hoodie itself was unzipped, revealing a dark red shirt underneath, draped over a pair of black shorts.

"Now, human..." he spoke out again, taking slow steps around the river bank, scanning the snow. Your breath hitched yet again. Oh god... the snow... your footprints... Smoke exhaled from the hole where a nose would be. When did he even light that cigarette..? "We can do this the __easy__ way..."

 _ _Oh please, god, no...__

"Or..." he continued. Your eyes drifted frantically to your footprints below. Then you saw him turn and discover them as well, leading his gaze to scan over them slowly, trailing his eyes to the base of the tree. "...we could do this..." His vision scraped upward until his head raised up enough for his eyes to lock directly onto yours, that shark-like grin somehow becoming even bigger and more menacing. "...the hard way." He took a step towards the tree, that grin twisted upward with malicious glee.

" _ _Wait__!" you found yourself squeaking as you hugged the tree even closer. To your surprise, the skeleton-man stopped, that grin of his faltering just a bit. His head tilted slightly to one side as he squinted up at you and took the cigarette out from between his teeth.

"Huh. An' here I thought that all you could say was 'nope'," he mused with a dark chuckle that sent shivers up your spine. Or maybe that was just your elongated contact with all this damn snow.

"W-wait a second," you managed to squeak out, a bit louder this time. The skeleton shrugged.

"What's it look like I'm doin', sweetheart?"

"O-okay..." you fumbled. "Umm, wh-what's the easy way?"

The skeleton shrugged again. "It's more of a figure of speech, kid. Let me rephrase: we could do it the hard way, or the even harder way," he clarified, that ever-present grin still plastered on his face.

"Is there an third option?" you offered up meekly, still gripping the branches, as if the tree might drop you to the ground at any given moment. The skeleton threw his head back and let out a hearty, bellowing laugh. Not that it did anything but unnerve you even further, though, when he looked back up at you.

"You choose option three, an' now look where it got ya'," he said, taking a couple more step towards the base of the tree.

"WAIT!" you called again, almost startling yourself at your sudden boldness. A look of irritation crossed the skeleton's face. Oh no, you were making him angry... as if he wasn't angry before...

"What?" he ground out, irritation clear within his tone.

"Umm... uh.. look, I don't want to hurt anyone..." you started, but his sudden laugh cut you off.

"Oh, izzat so?" he sneered almost mockingly. His taunting caught you somewhat off-guard, but you decided to continue.

"It's true! I-I don't have any weapons or anything... all I have is some..." you cautiously let go of a branch to rummage through the pocket of your jacket. "Um... some candy... 'monster candy'? And, uh, some pie." You were surprised that the last half of the strange butterscotch-cinnamon pie hadn't been mashed to oblivion from all your running around. "If-if you'd like, you can search me. I really don't have any weapons, a-and, if you'd like, we could share the candy and pie!" A sudden smile tugged at your lips as you offered. You were still scared as all hell, but maybe skeletons like pie and candy? Looking back down at the skeleton below, however, you were convinced that somehow your offer may have proved to be a fatal mistake.

The dark skeleton glowered up at you from below, his brows knit angrily together and his mouth now turned down into a dark scowl. You almost preferred the predatory grin to this even scarier look.

"Are you fuckin' with me, kid?" he snarled out, eyes practically ablaze.

"What? No! Not at all! I-I'm sorry, I just..." honestly, you didn't know what to say.

"Ya' just __what?__ " the skeleton snarled again.

"I-I just..." you stopped suddenly. "I... I don't know." The sudden thought hit you with full force. What in the world __were__ you trying to do? Well, "not die" was something, but... what exactly were you doing? Were you __really__ offering pie and candy to a demon-skeleton-man, in hopes that he would be happy about it enough to let you go free and on your merry way? Seriously?

"Am I crazy?" you mused suddenly. It was actually a question that you had meant to ask yourself inside your own head, but it just tumbled out of your mouth without a second thought.

The full-blown laugh of the skeleton jolted you so suddenly that you nearly lost your grip on the tree, but, thankfully, you managed to compose yourself and keep your grip.

"Oh, wow..." he chuckled. "Maybe ya' __do__ like jokes..."

"Okay, okay, look!" you fumbled. "W-what exactly will happen to me if I come down? Will you put me in prison? W-will you torture me?" You suddenly have a thought. "Will... will you eat me?"

A belly laugh louder than all the rest roared out from this short skeleton, as he hooted and snorted. You didn't laugh, as he still didn't answer, and you weren't certain that any of those things __wouldn't__ happen if you were convinced to come down. Still, though, he was laughing, which you took as a good sign.

"Oh... oh this rich... Paps is gonna fuckin' __love__ this," he said, wheezing a breath as he hunched with his hands down on his knees. You could have sworn that you saw tears at the corner of his eyes as he stood up straight once more and wiped his hand over his face before looking back up to face you.

"You got a name, kid?" he called up to you, his hands back in his pocket. You shifted your weight to your other foot. Dang, everything was going stiff..

"Ahh... you, umm... didn't really answer my question," you said carefully.

"Okay, listen, I don't really give a shit about your name, so I'm just gonna call you 'Dim', got it? That outta' the way, I'm Sans."

"I... Sans?" you echoed back

"You got snow jammed in your earholes, kid?"

"No, no, I just... okay... um, Sans... why... why 'Dim'?" you ask.

"Because you're not too bright, kid," he tittered on another fit of laughter. The only thing you could do was lower your eyelids and twist up your mouth into a somewhat indecipherable expression. What were you gonna do? Argue? With a creature as menacing-looking at him? No thank you. The whole point of the conversation was trying __not__ to die.

"So... comin' down, sweetheart?" he asked, smiling back up at you. You hesitated.

"And... you won't hurt me... right?" you confirmed.

"I'll try not to," came the blunt answer. Well... that wasn't too reassuring.

"Ahh, seriously, Mr. Sans... you won't imprison me or torture me or anything like that, will you?"

You saw the grin twitch, threatening to turn back into a frown.

"Are you callin' me a liar?" his tone turned sharp. Hands still in his pockets, he marched right up to the base of the tree. "Come on down, little birdie!" he called in a mock sing-song voice, giving the tree several heavy kicks will the full force from his red trainers.

" _ _WAAAAHH!__ " This skeleton was much stronger than you had anticipated, given the way the tree jerked and swayed under his kicks. "Okay, okay! Hold on! Just let me-!" Too late. Your fingers slipped from the branches as he gave the tree another swift kick, and you were hit in the face with a branch as you fell forward. You flailed your limbs wildly as you felt yourself fall, slamming into more and more on the way day, before hitting the snowy ground with an unceremonious "OOF!" The breath you had worked so hard to bring back into your chest was gone again, leaving you to gasp for air as the slow footsteps of the skeleton-man who had formerly stood below you approached your breathless form to now cast a shadow over you. A short gasp of air gave your lungs relief enough to know that they weren't permanently damaged, as you heard the footsteps stop and felt the shadow grow closer. A pair of golden socks crowning those red tennis shoes entered your vision, and you saw them lower as he knelt down. You just __knew__ that he had that wide, stupid grin on his face again. He was probably enjoying this.

"Didja' have a nice trip?" he chuckled. You wanted to say something in reply, but all you could do was gasp and lie on your stomach, hoping that the wind that was knocked out of you would return. You held up one finger, in a silent plea for him to give you a second, only to feel bones on your face. Oh god... he was __touching__ you... with his... __bone__ hands. Goosebumps immediately rose on every inch of your skin as your face was pulled up and your eyes met his. Red light made up his pupils within a pit of blackness, seemingly searching your eyes, trying to scratch the surface of your very soul. You were very still and very quiet as he silently looked over your face, giving only a small hum in acknowledgment.

"You look... __different__ than the others..." Sans spoke, a strange touch of curiosity in his voice. Others? Other what? Other people? He sighed and stood back up to his full height. "If you think for one damn minute that I'm gonna' carry ya', you are sorely mistaken."

All you could manage was a small "ah" as you struggled to stand. You felt light-headed and a bit queasy, but you felt that you wanted to say something back to him.

"Do... do you... want some of that pie?"

Your question was only met with another laugh as you stumbled.

Nothing you asked had truly been answered. If anything, it only left you with more questions. Maybe you would start getting somewhere if you complied. Hopefully that "somewhere" wouldn't be your doom.


End file.
